We are going to live on our boat, a 25D, a lot this summer. Can anyone give me advise or experiences with solar panels. It would be used to keep the battery charged after using lights, fans and not large appliances.
Joe Staples
jssfly@cs.com
Solar Panels
Moderator: Jim Walsh
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Bruce Barber
Re: Solar Panels
Joe,
I keep a solar panel lashed on the seahood of my 25D all year long, even when hauled in the winter. It's a Uni-Solar 11-watt panel that tops off and floats the batteries but isn't so powerful that a regulator is required. The output is split to each of the two 95 Ah batteries with a diode and a fuse in each leg. This setup by itself would take a few days to top the batteries off after significant drain, but in conjunction with the charging that occurs during routine engine use, it's proven more than adequate. The best part is that I can leave the boat without having to run the shore power charger, and be confident I'll have full batteries a few days hence. On the other hand, if I have just one or two days between two cruises of several days each, I'll run the charger (or the engine) to be safe.
My boat has no unusual power requirements. In a high-use 24-hr day, it might consume 35 to 40 A-h (of which the 10-w masthead anchor light accounts for about 20%, and yes, I'm looking into LED's.) On a good (sunny) summer day, the panel might pump out 7 or 8 A-h (which will at least keep up with the anchor light!), but you can see it needs some assistance if I'm staying out for a while. There are larger panels available, but for cost and aesthetics reasons I went with a fairly small one.
I suggest you do a basic load analysis, reflecting the actual equipment installed and your typical use of it, and then see what various panels can provide. You'll most likely find that the panel won't do it all, but at least you'll know better what to expect of it.
Bruce Barber
25D Nancy Dawson
bruce.barber@att.net
I keep a solar panel lashed on the seahood of my 25D all year long, even when hauled in the winter. It's a Uni-Solar 11-watt panel that tops off and floats the batteries but isn't so powerful that a regulator is required. The output is split to each of the two 95 Ah batteries with a diode and a fuse in each leg. This setup by itself would take a few days to top the batteries off after significant drain, but in conjunction with the charging that occurs during routine engine use, it's proven more than adequate. The best part is that I can leave the boat without having to run the shore power charger, and be confident I'll have full batteries a few days hence. On the other hand, if I have just one or two days between two cruises of several days each, I'll run the charger (or the engine) to be safe.
My boat has no unusual power requirements. In a high-use 24-hr day, it might consume 35 to 40 A-h (of which the 10-w masthead anchor light accounts for about 20%, and yes, I'm looking into LED's.) On a good (sunny) summer day, the panel might pump out 7 or 8 A-h (which will at least keep up with the anchor light!), but you can see it needs some assistance if I'm staying out for a while. There are larger panels available, but for cost and aesthetics reasons I went with a fairly small one.
I suggest you do a basic load analysis, reflecting the actual equipment installed and your typical use of it, and then see what various panels can provide. You'll most likely find that the panel won't do it all, but at least you'll know better what to expect of it.
Bruce Barber
25D Nancy Dawson
bruce.barber@att.net
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len
Re: Solar Panels
lenBruce Barber wrote:
Joe,
i have a small, flexible solar panel, i think it is about 10 watts, that keeps the batteries fully charged pretty well - i found that adding a third battery made a big difference, and i also changed to a larger alternator - if the batteries are fairly low, it takes forever for the solar panel to bring them back up
md.frel@nwh.org